Etymologically
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Lesbius

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Forms

Lesbius (feminine Lesbia, neuter Lesbium); first and second declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Λέσβιος (Lésbios, “of Lesbos”),[3][4][5] the adjective of Λέσβος (Lésbos), the island of Lesbos in the Aegean.[3][6] Etymonline reports that the island's name may originally have meant “wooded”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges cites Lesbium vinum, “wine of Lesbos”, from Plautus;[6] Köbler finds it first in Horace.[3]

Semantic evolution

Lesbos was the home of Alcaeus and Sappho, and the adjective often refers to them: Horace calls Alcaeus Lesbius civis and speaks of the Lesbian plectrum, that is lyric or Alcaic poetry, and Ovid calls Sappho vates Lesbia.[6][4][7] Horace also uses the neuter Lesbium alone for Lesbian wine.[6][2] Vitruvius uses it in architecture for a kind of moulding, the cymatium Lesbium.[1]

English borrowed it as lesbian, first in the 1590s for “of Lesbos”; the modern sense comes from Sappho's poetry.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions Lesbian wine.[6][3]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius names a Lesbian moulding.[1][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace calls Alcaeus Lesbius civis.[6][7][3]
  • 43 BC–AD 18 – Ovid calls Sappho vates Lesbia.[6][7][3]
  • 1590s – English borrows it as lesbian, “of Lesbos”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to Lesbos, Lesbian.[1][4]
  2. (poetry) Of Alcaeus or Sappho; lyric.[6][4]
  3. (architecture) Of a kind of sculptured moulding.[1]

Noun

  1. Lesbium (neuter): wine of Lesbos.[6][2]
  • Lesbias
  • Lesbis
  • Lesbōus
  • Lesbiacus
  • English lesbian

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.